New Delhi. US President Donald Trump said on Monday that if New Delhi does not help on the ‘Russian oil issue’, the country can increase the existing tariffs on Indian imports. According to the agency, Trump said this during a public address.
On India’s Russian oil imports, US President Donald Trump said, “They actually wanted to make me happy. PM Modi is a very good man. He is a good man. He knew that I was not happy. It was important to make me happy. We can increase tariffs on them very quickly.”
Trump was talking about India’s oil trade with Russia, which his government has been opposing for a long time. Oil trade with Russia was cited as one of the reasons behind doubling the tariff on India to 50% in August 2025.
These statements have again increased tensions over India’s energy relations with Russia and come a few months after Trump claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had ‘assured’ him that India would stop buying Russian oil. New Delhi had earlier rejected this claim and said that no such conversation took place between Trump and Modi.
Russia is the largest country supplying oil to India
Russia is the largest country supplying oil to India. Several Trump Administration officials had earlier alleged that Russia was using the earnings from this oil trade to fuel the war in Ukraine, and that India was also ‘making profits’ and ‘making billions’ by reselling this oil.
Trump’s imposition of heavy tariffs on India has largely been seen as a move to put pressure on Putin.
